Collecting & Managing the Municipal Accommodation Tax

Accommodation providers should collect the Municipal Accommodation Tax (MAT) on applicable bookings, purchases or stays beginning on and after February 1, 2025.

Bookings or reservations made prior to February 1, 2025, are exempt from the MAT.

Online listings

Popular accommodation booking platforms will not automatically collect the MAT on behalf of the City of Port Colborne. Many of these platforms have built-in functionality to add a tax. Please consult with the booking platform directly for instructions on how to apply the MAT to your online listings.

The tax applies only to the purchase price (or room rate) of the accommodation and not to other service fees or charges. If accommodation providers fail to apply the tax solely on the purchase price, the tax will be applied to the entire transaction.

Online booking platform resources

Airbnb

Vrbo 

Booking.com 

Failure to collect the MAT

Accommodation providers that, intentionally or unintentionally, fail to collect the MAT are operating in violation of the MAT by-law. Please refer to section 9 of the MAT by-law [PDF/4.4MB] for information on the City's assessment procedure.

Records and Audits